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Jurors hear first blood evidence in Nemnich trial

Samples of blood recovered from at least 13 locations at Linda Benson’s Grand Junction apartment in 1975 were introduced to jurors this morning, the third day of the prosecution’s case in the trial of 65-year-old Jerry Nemnich.

Larry Hall, who was assigned to the Grand Junction Police Department’s crime lab from 1974 to 1978, testified to the collection process of evidence from unit 211 at Chateau Apartments, 1300 N. 21nd St., which ran over two days after the bodies of Benson, 24, and Kelley Ketchum, 5, were discovered the evening of July 25, 1975.

Prosecutors have yet to tie the blood to anyone, including samples taken from a cereal box in the apartment’s kitchen counter, an ashtray in the living room, small specks from the master bedroom and bathroom walls and a bloody towel in the bathroom found lying at the feet of slain Ketchum.

Assistant District Attorney Rich Tuttle told jurors during opening statements that Nemnich’s DNA profile was matched to blood found in five separate locations in the apartment, in addition to three partial matches.